Parents who can't cope with their children being told off

[tanyatee]

Does this piss anyone else off? Just been at a pump track with my young son. The rules are all over the track on printed boards. 'DO NOT STOP ON THE TRACK, RIDE THE WHOLE LENGTH'. A load of boys around 12 just sat in the middle of the track. I walked up to them and kindly asked them if they could move to the flat areas off the track if they're going to stop. They said 'ok maam' then started imitating me as I walked away. Their mum's were stood off the track and shouted 'what did she just say to you?'. They shouted back 'she told us to move' which lead to me being called a daft cow. I then explained that I had just asked them to move, as it is quite dangerous to congregate in the middle of a jump where people who are travelling extremely fast have to go around them, then directed them to the notice board. Very calmly and in a respectful fashion.

I have seen crashes on pump tracks before and they aren't pretty. I have reached 18mph before and advanced riders much faster. I've seen people carted off in ambulances probably 10+ times for doing daft things.

Funny, I have been riding for a long time, but was made to feel like a total goodie two shoes for trying to enforce rules that would keep other riders safe.

I've had a number of situations like this in multiple different scenarios, when people can't seem to cope with their children being held accountable over minor things. I quite like when someone else does this to my child, as he is much more likely to listen (and it saves me a job!).

Anyway that's my rant over. Still sat here and they've just walked off and are referring to me as a stupid twat as I type. Sigh.

Absolute arseholes and will be the first to complain when their kids get hurt.

I had to tell my friends son off a few times when he was young as she wouldn’t , eventually I stopped meeting up with her with the children as he always bullied my son ( who was the younger, not that it makes a difference). No surprise that he grew up to be a rude, spoiled 15 year old. She was a teacher too so you’d think she’d know.

My next door neighbour always sworn and shouted at her children absolutely appallingly from when they were very young. But on a couple of occasions she has absolutely torn into me when I've said something, in a very restrained way, to them about kicking the ball into my garden or something similar.
" Don't you dare speak to my we'ans" is her mantra.

I agree with you, OP, but what's a pump track?

www.manchester.gov.uk/parks-leisure-and-the-arts/parks-playgrounds-allotments-and-open-spaces/about-the-park/pump-track

I have a very good friend who makes lukewarm attempts to tell her horribly behaved kids off with threats that she never carries out (if you are not ready to leave in 10 seconds the. I’m leaving without you…cue shrug and continuation of playing/screaming/other noisy annoying behaviour). I did gently try and suggest she needs to follow on with her threats to let her DS know she is serious and she said I was mad to think she would ever leave without him! I’ve told him off a couple of times and he was immediately compliant with what I asked him to do. She was so annoyed and told me it wasn’t my place to tell him off 🤷 I only see her now for evening dinner/drinks when I know she won’t bring him. We’ve gone from meeting every couple of weeks to twice a year which is sad but every time we meet she tells me her woes of how badly behaved he is and how she wants to get him assessed for autism/ADHD. In my non-professional opinion, he has neither…he just needs proper boundaries and consequences.

I agree, I also get pissed off with parents who will defend their badly behaved kids.

My son has adhd and autism. He misbehaves sometimes. Would never claim he doesn't but I have no issue with people pulling him up on it!

I used to have a friend (we where 11 and 12 when we met)

We had dc at around the same time and they grew up together

Mine where not angels (and I'm hardly a perfect parent) but good god,hers was a terror

1st dc,1st grandchild,1st great grandchild,1st nephew etc and whatever he wanted,he got (i was a skint single parent and simply couldn't afford what he was getting) and he could do no wrong

He was a low key bully and a snob at school (I kept him in check around my lot) and she was tearing her hair out at his behaviour (she would tell mine off,which was fine but refused to do the same to him and god help you if you tried)

She tried to have him diagnosed with adhd but he didn't have it-the professionals told her she needed firmer boundaries (she refused to listen as she was the perfect parent) and he carried on being a little sod

When he was 7,she had his baby sister and 2 years later,another baby girl

He really ramped up his behaviour,thinking nothing of biting/punching/hitting the babies/her and started spitting and making an annoying sound (it's hard to describe but it was irritating)

Again,nothing to do with her parenting and he was perfect (she even tried to blame it in the babies crying and him being jealous)

When he turned 11,we where invited to his birthday party

We walked the 3 miles from our house to hers and knocked on the door

He leant out of the window above the front door,making that annoying sound and he spat at me

I'm standing there,covered in spit,my dc looking agog at me and she opened the door to find a pissed off me and him laughing at the top of the stairs just behind her

I told her what he'd done,and she turned around and asked if he'd done it

He said 'no' (still laughing) and she turned back and told me he couldn't have done it as he'd not been upstairs all morning (he's still hanging out of the upstairs window!)

I just looked at her,shook my head,told her to pull her head out of her arse and walked away

I never spoke to her again-a friendship of over 25 years over because she couldn't see what was right in front of her

Fast forward and mine either have a good career/are studying and he spends all her money on weed and junk food and cant hold down a job longer than a fortnight

I have no regrets but am sad at losing the friendship